


Let's Go Outside

by almosthuman_butnotquite



Series: Guns for Hands [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Slight floof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 03:12:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6035731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almosthuman_butnotquite/pseuds/almosthuman_butnotquite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Butterflies flutter frantically in his stomach at the sound of that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Go Outside

So far, Sole Survivor Josh hasn't been able to coax Danse out of the listening post bunker and into the fresh air of the outside. Danse doesn't say much anymore, but he seems insistent on staying in the damp and smelly bunker with the rotting corpse of a yao guai and the mangled robotic corpses of Danse's guardians, long gone at the hands of Josh and Nick.

Josh brings Preston down one day to see if maybe the Minuteman can sway Danse. They were spending some time together before everything happened. He might be the only one to have any pull with Danse. Josh pretends to busy himself at the terminal with the logs of the soldier from before the war that was stuck on duty down there. He's actually listening to the two men, straining his ears to try and catch every word.

"Paladin—"

Danse shakes his head. "I'm not a Paladin anymore."

"Can I call you Danse then?" The man nods and Preston sighs softly. "Do you really want to stay down here?"

"Where else is there to go? Everything I know has been a lie."

"Not everything. What about your friends? We're still here for you."

Danse finally meets his eyes. "Anywhere I go, the Brotherhood will find me."

Preston smiles softly at him. "I won't let them hurt you, Danse. You could come back to Sanctuary."

"I don't want to be burden."

Preston can see why Josh was having such a hard time convincing him to leave the bunker. "The fresh air might help you feel better. And Sanctuary has plenty of space."

Danse sits down on the small cot and hides his face behind his hands. "I'm a waste of space..."

Preston kneels in front of Danse and gently pries his hands away. He holds Danse's hands in his and looks him in the eye. "Don't say that. You are not a waste of space. You're a good man who will fight for what he believes in."

Danse frowns, almost on the verge of a sneer. "But I'm not even human."

"What you're made of doesn't matter. What matters is what you think, what you feel. It doesn't matter if your bones are metal and your flesh is synthetic. You're my friend, Danse."

Danse sniffles and looks away, the wall next to him, the rebar that shows through the gaps of old concrete, the flaking ceiling, anywhere but Preston's earnest smile and kind eyes. "I'm scared," he whispers finally. His eyes are wet and his nose is pink.

"That's okay. Everyone's scared, Danse." He rubs his thumbs over Danse's scarred and cracked knuckles. "It's okay to be scared. It isn't a weakness, no matter what you've been told."

Danse swallows and licks his lips. He meets Preston's eyes again and squeezes the hands holding his, clutches tight like Preston is the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth. Maybe he is. "Preston, I'm scared of hurting you."

Preston shakes his head. He's patient. He can talk to Danse all day, convince him that he really does care, that he really does want to keep Danse safe. "Don't worry about that. Let me help you, Danse. I want to protect you." The _I don't want to fail you_ is unspoken, but they both know it's there, hanging heavy between them.

Danse closes his eyes and sighs heavily. "Okay." His voice is hardly more than a whisper, but Preston hears him just fine. "I'll go with you."

Preston rocks up onto the balls of his feet to press a quick kiss to the corner of Danse's mouth. It's long overdue, he thinks. They'd been dancing around each other for months. "Ready to go home?"

Danse's heart clenches and he nods. Home. Butterflies flutter frantically in his stomach at the sound of that. Looking at Preston, he realizes he already is home. He keeps that to himself.


End file.
